The Disney vs. Google saga has a new development as the latter has now taken down the videos uploaded to YouTube featuring AI-generated Disney characters.
YouTube Takes Down Videos of AI-Generated Disney Characters
Reports from Deadline and Variety have shared that Google has recently made its move to take down all the videos on YouTube that feature AI-generated Disney characters. This effectively took down AI-made videos featuring characters like Mickey Mouse, "Star Wars" characters, Deadpool, Moana, and other Disney IPs as of Friday, December 12.
Users who tried to access videos featuring AI-generated Disney characters were reportedly able to access these last Thursday, but only a day after, these were no longer available.
Those who still proceeded to the links were given a message on YouTube that read, "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Disney."
It was not revealed by these reports how many videos were taken down by Google from YouTube, only saying that "dozens" of videos were removed from the platform.
Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter against Google last week, accusing the company of copyright infringement violations in multiple aspects of their business.
However, it was not revealed what would happen to those who still try to upload AI-generated videos of Disney characters via YouTube, particularly if the platform would immediately flag the video or remove it right away.
Disney vs. Google: AI Copyright Infringement Saga
It was only last week when Disney sent Google the cease-and-desist letter which asked the company to make various changes to their operations and technologies to avoid violating its copyright.
According to the entertainment company, Google has allowed the "infringing Disney's copyrights on a massive scale" to happen for a long time.
The letter targeted different operations over at Google, which have allegedly violated Disney's intellectual property rights significantly, and this includes the user uploads on YouTube featuring AI-generated Disney characters.
According to the letter, Google allowed uploads of AI-made characters from its franchises, including Disney, Pixar, Marvel, "Star Wars", and more.
On the other hand, Disney also said that Google's AI video generator platforms, Veo and the new nano banana pro, allegedly trained using Disney's IPs and could generate AI-generated infringing for users.
Google's only comment regarding the matter is that it has a long-standing relationship with Disney, with the company expressing that it wants this to continue.
There were no other statements from Google regarding this copyright complaint raised by Disney against them.
It is known that Disney and Google previously clashed regarding the licensing deal on YouTube TV, which temporarily pulled out Disney's channels from the service.
Originally published on Tech Times
